Lakes

The many lakes of Asia vary considerably in size and origin. The largest of them—the Caspian and Aral seas—are the remains of larger seas. The Caspian has been fluctuating in size, and the Aral has been shrinking, primarily because its tributaries, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, have been tapped heavily for irrigation purposes. Lakes Baikal, Ysyk-Köl, and Hövsgöl (Khubsugul), the Dead Sea, and others lie in tectonic depressions. The basins of Lakes Van, Sevan, and Urmia are, furthermore, encircled by lava, and Lake Telets was gouged out by ancient glaciation. A number of lakes were formed as the result of landslides (Lake Sarez in the Pamirs), karst processes (the lakes of the western Taurus, in Turkey), or the formation of lava dams (Lake Jingpo in northeastern China and several lakes in the Kuril Islands). In the volcanic regions of the eastern Asian islands, in the Philippines, and in the Malay Archipelago, lakes have formed in craters and calderas. The subarctic has a particularly large number of lakes; in addition to lakes formed as a result of melting permafrost and subsidence, there are also ancient glacial moraine lakes. Many lagoonal lakes occur along low coastlines.

Salt deposits on the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea near Masada, Israel.

Z. Radovan, Jerusalem

The lakes in the internal drainage basins—such as Koko Nor, Lake Tuz, and others—are usually saline. Lake Balkhash has fresh water in the west and brackish water in the east. Lakes through which rivers flow are freshwater and regulate the flow of the rivers that issue from them or flow into them; notable examples are Lake Baikal, associated with the Angara River; Lake Khanka (the Song’acha and Ussuri rivers); Dongting Lake and Lake Poyang (the Yangtze River); and Tonle Sap (the Mekong). Large reservoirs have also been created by constructing hydroelectric stations.

Groundwater

In arid regions groundwater (subterranean water) is often the only source of water. Large accumulations are known to exist in artesian basins and beneath the dipping plains at the foot of mountains; those basins are associated with the extensive oases of Central Asia, Kashgaria, and many other regions.

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Asia is the largest and most populated continent. It has nearly one-third of the world’s total land area and is home to more than half the Earth’s people. It also has impressive geographical features. It has the Earth’s highest point (Mount Everest) and lowest point (the Dead Sea). Asia also includes some of the world’s wettest, driest, hottest, and coldest places. The continent was the home of the great early civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Indus River valley. The world’s major religions-Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism-all began in Asia as well. Today, though many people are farmers and live in small villages, Asia also has enormous cities, including some of the world’s largest: Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Delhi, India.

A land of extremes and contrasts, Asia is the largest and the most populous continent on Earth. It has the highest mountains and most of the longest rivers, highest plateaus, and largest deserts and plains of all the continents. Asia is also home to some of the world’s oldest cultures. It has some of the poorest as well as some of the richest countries in the world. It contains a major share of the world’s largest cities as well as very large populations of rural dwellers. Because of its size, age, population, and rich resources Asia has long been of great interest to the rest of the world. During much of Asia’s history, outsiders, principally Europeans, tried to exploit and control it and its people. In the 20th century, however, Asia was a scene of great change. Many of the underdeveloped countries of the region took various approaches to modernizing their economies and societies, some under communism. Progress was often slow because of physical and cultural barriers, but there were some notable advances and the efforts to upgrade living standards continue today.

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